Monday, 10 April 2017

Collaboration is a hot topic. We have had a few discussions about this at our Staff Meetings. This has
followed on from our PLG around collaboration, as one of our KET Goals is:Actively Increasing face to face and digital collaboration within our classrooms will lead to increased critical and extended discussions and learning outcomes across the curriculum.During this PLG we discussed and shared:

How we plan for Learn, Create, Share for Collaborative Learning

How our google site and rewindable learning caters for collaboration

How our physical environment promotes and support collaboration

What action will you take to support your learners to work collaboratively

What digital resources/collaborative apps have been used effectively in the classroom to promote collaboration.

Back at School
We have had lengthy discussions about collaboration vs co-operation too. We have now come up with a very simple definition that we are using to define collaboration:

Collaboration is working, reflecting and acting together in a critical way that transforms thinking and learning.
We are giving our students lots of opportunities to collaborate and are making use of the digital tools available. Some of the examples include:
- A group of children working on a google slide presentation together
- Using Padlet to gather thoughts and ideas

Children using Padlet to brainstorm ideas that they can use in their writing.

- Students are becoming teachers and teaching others how to solve maths problems
- Using mixed ability grouping
- Children sharing their writing with their buddies and making use of the commenting tool to improve the writing.

Our staff room full of pictures, definitions, quotes etc about what we think collaboration is and what it looks like at Ohaeawai School.